Phantasy Star P2: Alter
by AD100
Summary: After a rescue mission in the RELIC site, Gaius finds himself apart of a security team known as Little Wing. When a mysterious shadow appears causing destruction around Gurhal. It's up to Gaius and his new partner, Emilia, to find out the truth behind the shadow and stop it before more people get hurt. (Altered version of PSP2's story)


A scream following my a cloud of blood. The figure cloaked in white watched with bated breath as the young girl in red fell lifelessly on the ground. The mechanical monster stood up and turned its attention to the bystander.

Regaining their composure they summon a staff into their hand as the enemy began its charge. A woman bitterly mutters a spell, like a curse.

"Razonde!"

3 bolts of lightning come down from the ceiling like arrows piercing through the back metal giant which forces it into the ground stopping it where it stood. Not yet defeated it persistently crawled towards the figure who looked down at machine through the hood with cold yellow eyes.

"Disappear…"

Heavy rain of bright yellow projectiles descends upon the desperate machine. Not a single piece of metal remained of the giant. Once finished the woman walked towards the young who lied stiffly on the ground. She turned her on her back and places a hand on the girl's bloody wound.  
"Hold on… Help should be here soon."

Despite the woman's come clear and calm voice, she notices her hand trembling, and her breath soon followed. Swallowed the growing lump in her throat and shook her head.

"No turning back… I have to do this."

She muttered as a bright light surrounds the girl. Her wound, the blood, everything disappeared almost as though time itself had been reversed around her. The injured girl moans in her sleep and the woman standing over her sighs in relief.

The room was secure, and help would soon arrive. The stands up and makes her way towards the exit with a smile.

2 hours earlier.

A room illuminated by glowing blue crystals fixed on the wall.  
Filled with numerous adventurous looking figures.  
The man in front of me gestures with his hand wordlessly telling me to follow him.  
We walked towards the end of the room where the crowd was thinnest.

"Did ya check yer equipment?"

He asked with a naturally gruff voice.

I silently nod in response and the man raises an eyebrow.

"Ya sure 'bout that? Let's see yer gear."

I scatter the things in my action palette onto the ground as the old man names them.

"Tools?"

"Check!"

"Medical supplies?"

"Check!"

"All right. Where's yer saber?"

"Uhhh…"

He let out a sigh with his brow furrowed as he speaks in a disappointed tone.

"Don't tell me. Ya forgot yer weapon…"

I laugh nervously.  
"Can't forget something I never had."

"What were ya planning on defendin' yerself wit'? Yer bare hands?!"

The man shouts at me but falls silent when he notices the prying eyes gawking us.

"Relax. It's a RELIC site. It's been ages since they've been active. I mean- Unarmed researchers explore these all the time… if you ask me, hiring mercenaries to scout out the area might be a little overkill."

The man rubs his nose and sighs.

"Boy… We don't know what's down here. These ruins are like a maze if ya get careless ya could find yerself stuck roamin' these halls."

It's true. RELIC sites are pretty famous for being labyrinths. It seems like the perfect place someone would go to if they wanted to disappear from the world, as those who get lost inside are usually never seen again. But-

"Getting lost and not having a weapon are two completely different issues."

"All I'm sayin is a Lil caution could save yer life…  
Honestly… yer a Lil too much like yer brother."

He muttered the last part sadly.

I'd have to disagree, my brother was brave and strong, he always tried to make others smile often saying things like "Good thoughts will follow once you smile." He had run off to join the GUARDIANS, maybe 5 years ago, leaving me in the care of this old man.

I, on the other hand, have always preferred the old man's line of work. He isn't a protector like my brother. He's more of a creator. People who stopped by his shop would often give him supplies and ask him to make stuff for a modest fee. Most of his orders consisted of weapons or armour but it seemed like he could make almost anything.

"Boy! Ya listenin' to me?"

"Y-Yessir!"

"Then 'ere take this."  
He hands me a thin sharp-looking saber with a black hilt and 3 long guards that would go over my hand.

"It's nothin' special but It got me through some tough times."

I stare vacantly at the simple looking sword in my hand. Compared to what he usually makes it doesn't look all that impressive but the look on his face tells me he's particularly proud of this sword.

"Don't ya go an break it now or else I'll feed ya to the beasts."

I hold back a laugh at the empty threat.  
Still, I'd rather not break something if it's important to him. After all, he's the one who cooks my meals.

A loud boom shakes the room. A deep sounding alarm slowly blares as everyone goes into a panic.

"What the bloody heck is goin' on?!" The old man shouts.

"The doors are closing! Get out of the chamber!" The whole room is in chaos with everyone dashing towards the exit. There's no mistaking it. The site is active!

"Boy! Git yer things! We're leaving!"

I quickly gather my things off the ground and run towards the exit with the old man while trying my best not to trip over the trembling floor but-

"Argh!"

I fell on my own feet and land face-first on the ground. I rub my throbbing face.

"Git up!"

Someone lifts me to my feet.

"Ol' man?"

"Shut yer trap and move it!" The old man held my hand and practically pulled me through the closing doors.

"Wait! The doors! Don't leave me here!"

Behind us I see a young girl trying to escape as the door was just about to close shut. Without thinking I pull my hand away from the old man an run back but-

"Move!"

The old man grabs my wrist and pulls me away from the door as it shuts on the girl trapping her alone inside the RELIC site. I bite lip and follow the old man out of the ruins. We ran through the halls and finally make it outside before we could get trapped like her.

I'm not entirely sure but it looks like most of us made it out. But the important thing is we made it out.

"Ya okay kid?"

"Well, you know? You kinda hurt my wrist when you pulled my hand."

The old man cracks a slight grin.

"If ya can joke around, then-"

"You. You were the last one out, right?" The man who asked was a beast with hair that covered his eyes and a smell that was kind of like the old man after a party.

"Listen. Was there anyone left inside behind you?"

"Yeah. There was a girl in red."

"Blonde hair? Screechy voice?"

I nod and the man sighs.

"Great… Listen. The name's Kraz Muehler, the idiot down there is an employee of mine. Would ya mind lending me a hand in gettin' er outta there? Course' you'll be paid for yer time."

"Aye boy. Seems the expedition is a no-go fer now. And we could use the cash. Why don't we elp' him out?"

"Well, if you say so."

I'm a little reluctant but it seems we have no choice. Unless we want to eat ore tonight.

"All right, I'm goin' to see if I could get a few more hands before we head in. Just wait beside the door and we'll go in."

Me and the Oldman wait as he said and waited in front of the entrance.

I feel a little uneasy about going back inside. The RELIC site activating was not something anyone could have predicted, and going back in would mean we would most definitively be seeing combat. It's not that I didn't trust the old man's skill with a weapon, after all… He's the only reason I've survived the nightmare three years ago.

The trade federation that operated as Moatoob's government was hit with the SEED virus, following that was mayhem and chaos, followed by SEED attacks. Countless people died during those months.

"Whaddya lookin' at me like that fer? Didn't I teach ya it isn't polite to be goin' around starin' at people?"

The old man scowled.

"Sorry."

"Great. We were 'ardly in there fer five minutes and the place has to go n start shakin"  
The old man starts going off on how bad our luck is… though, I think it's because the old man himself has the luck of a black cat.  
Considering how often his stories would begin with some unfortunate event. It's more surprising HE didn't get trapped inside himself.

"Right."

The man in purple returns behind him is five others.

"We'll be splitin' into two groups. You two are with me. Once we're inside, I expect you all to stay within com range, we don't need any more idiots gettin' lost in there. You hear me?"

The group nods in acknowledgement.

"Good. Now, come on."

We follow him through the entrance and quickly reach the closed door and beside it are two open passageways that weren't there before. The man leading us pointed to the right and group two silently followed their orders.

We keep moving down the hall, waiting for us were some fish-like monsters with blades for hand and some automated monsters. We must have been well underwater as the air quickly began difficult to breathe, it was fortunate that the monster hordes became less frequent after a while. I couldn't imagine a girl stuck down here alone lasting very long.

"Hey, kid, what's your name?"

The dark armoured CAST asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's Gaius."

"Hmm… Gaius. Is that your grandfather?"

"Yeah, I guess you can say that."

I say, not wanting to go into details.

"He moves well for someone his age. But he's starting to slow down. It might be best to get him to take a short rest. It wouldn't do us any good if he were to suddenly croak."

He seems to be worried about the old man's old age but I think he seems no different than usual.

"I'll talk to him. But he's a pretty stubborn guy. I can't promise anything."

I walk over to the old man. With his same grumpy-looking expression he turns his head to me.

"Boy. Ya were flailin' yer arms all over the place. It's a miracle ya didn't manage ta hit one of us."

He complained but it seems only natural that I wouldn't be very skilled with a blade. after all, this was the first time I've struck something that wasn't air. I must have been swinging it harder than necessary. Or maybe it was because I just swung it without thinking.  
"-But other than that, ya weren't too bad. Ya even managed to kill a few beasties on yer own."

What? Is he praising?

Argh. Damn it. I don't know if I should apologize or say thank you.

"Hey! Get over here!"

We follow the man's voice into the next room. And inside was a circular room with water coming out of the walls and flowing down a duct that surrounded the room. This room looks kind of important but I have no idea what it does. But if it were important you would expect to see more security guarding the area but the only thing in the room was a girl lying unconscious in the center.

"Did she-"

No, It's impossible that a kid like that would be able to handle this all on her own… But I was certain she was alone in the room. It doesn't make sense… No, I shouldn't focus on that right now. what's more important is the girl's safety.

"How is she?"

I ask the man kneeling beside her.

"She's fine just unconscious. I've already told the other group, they'll be-"

At that moment the door behind us shuts and from the opposite end of the room, a metal giant enters wielding a giant axe with lightning emanating from it.

It raises its axe in the air. And the instant he does the entire floor was lit up as lightning rained down upon us in a destructive storm before anyone could tell what was even happening everything was gone in a bright flash.

My body hurts. I must have been run a lot of deliveries for the old man.

Maybe he'll make something special tonight to celebrate… I think curry would sound nice. Anything spicy, really. the old man's the best at making that stuff.

"Git yer ass up!"

Speak of the devil.

"Urgh… Everything hurts. Please… Just five.  
More minutes."

"This ain't the time ta be nappin' ya lil' twit."

I slowly open my eyes. The old man is looking down at me.

I turn my head and see a man in a purple coat standing with his arms stretched out, in each hand, he's holding a pair of pistols. On the other hand, I see a CAST sword fighting a giant axe-wielding robot with a sword as big as he is…  
I must still be dreaming. I shut my eyes again and fall back asleep.

"Get up before I throw ya in the water!"

The old man shakes me roughly against the stone floor.

My muscles are still hurting but I force myself to sit up.

I remember our situation.

"Right- sorry."

I groan still half asleep. It's difficult to tell how much time had passed but it couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes. Seeing as the CAST was using a sword rather than the laser, I guess it either ran outta juice or maybe it was just ineffective against this thing as it's armour remains unscathed even after taking a direct strike from the CASTS giant blade.

The armour, the axe- both made of a pure white metal I had never seen before. Is it powerful? Or is maybe it was something casually pieced on a whim by some ancient engineer.  
I don't believe even the old man is capable of creating something half as good as this. But...

The axe doesn't seem as threatening as before. It must have exerted as much power as it could in the initial attack, it's a miracle we're alive.

"Ya look like ya figured it out. Now get up, we don't 'ave a lotta time before we git blasted ta smithereens."

Right. He's saying the axe is passively recharging. This would be a tough opponent to beat even without any time constraints. A machine that could take a large laser blast and come out without so much as a scratch. There's no way we could-

"Wipe that look off yer face boy!"

Despite our circumstances, the Old man smiles confidently.

"Boss! Yer guns won't do a thing. We need ta get up n' personal."

"Up and personal. Eh?"

He leaves the girl's side. The guns in his hand disappear with a pair of heavy metal gauntlets taking their place.

"Boy. Keep an eye on the girl."

I carry the girl to a safer distance.

The girl appears to be a year or two younger.

She's still breathing and I don't see any obvious wounds.

I still think she should get check out in an infirmary once she's out of here but as far as I could tell she's fine.

Checking up on the battle behind me- The iron giant backs away as it is attacked from two different sides with it's back to the wall it seems to have been cornered. No, it's guarding something. There must be a weak point in the back of its armour. It seems that the other three might have figured this out also as they've been targeting it frequently thus why it took a defensive position.

All it needs the do is wait for the axe to recharge once that happens it will light up the room once more and the battle would be lost.

Huh?

Where's the old man?

He's standing back?

No, he's holding something.

A spear-like a drill- He's holding it back with his right hand with his left pointed at the machine. The tip of the drill gradually spins faster causing the spear to shake. There must be a photon reactor inside it, a reactor he's manipulating like he's performing a TECHNIC. No, I think it's more accurate to call this a Photon art. One unique only to this weapon.

The old man lets out a pain-filled yell as he propelled the spear forward, throwing it at the metal giant like a javelin. The drill moves towards the right-side of its center. The giant leaps out of the way ditching the hammer so it would have the speed to avoid it at the last second… at that moment a sword slashed it in its back.

The drill itself manages to destroy the door behind it before breaking into pieces.

The machine crawls along the ground with a large cut in it's back.

It looked kinda helpless the way it moves. Kraz leaps on it's back and pulls something out of the machine with his gauntlet, a round object that shined brightly, the thing's "heart."

The man crushed it in the palm of his hand and the door we came out of earlier opened up.

"Done. Now let's get outta here. Once we're out there's something we need to talk about"

The man takes the girl and leaves the room followed by the CAST.

"Ya did good boy."

The old man hobbles over towards me with his right arm dangling with blood seeping through his right shoulder.

"What happened?"

"This? Just a lil' scratch."

"Hey! Don't laugh! This is serious! We have to get that checked out!"

The old man laughs even harder.

"I never thought I'd see the day ya would be so worried over this lil' old man."

"Yeah! Of course, I'd be worried! You're bleed damn it! Can you move your arm?!  
We need to do something now! But I don't know any TECHNICS… Argh!"

"Boy…just gimme a trimate if yer so worried."

Right. He was the one who made me use the rest of my money to buy this stuff.  
I never imagined I'd be using it on him.  
I used my saber to cut off his sleeve and I start treating him…  
A large red stream drips down his arm and onto the floor.  
Something tries to escape my empty stomach.  
He's lucky his arm didn't go flying off with that spear...

"Ya all right there boy? Yer lookin' kinda green. We could deal with this later."

"N-No. I"m fine."

I do my best to bandage wound as best I could.  
"Boy, yer doin' it wrong ya need to-"  
He starts guiding me as I wrapped his arm into a sling and bandage him up.

"I'm gettin' a little too old fer this kinda work. Actually... I've already hit that age a long time ago'"

"Please. stop talking."

For once the old man listens and only talked when he needed to tell me what to do.  
We leave the ruins. Waiting outside was the man who hired us.

"There you are- What happened to you two?"  
Did he not notice the old man's injury until now?

"Just a scratch, nothin' to worry about."

He laughs. I can't see his face behind his hair but Kraz raises a brow.

"Our pay! Where's our meseta?"

The old man says desperately trying to change the topic.

"Right. Here."  
He hands us both a cheque.

"There was something I wanted to ask you. How would you feel about working for me?  
We aren't a big company, but for someone with your experience, we'd sign you on with a full bonus package. I'll even throw in a partner."

He offers. Not to the old man, but to me.

"We'll even take care of your old man's treatment. What do you say? I think it's more than a fair offer"

"Huh?"

I look to my old man who shifts his eyes away.  
"Ya should make yer own choices."

…

Everything about this seemed fishy.  
Especially after he said "Someone with your experience."

He said that but there was no choice.  
We don't exactly have a lot of money left even if we count our pay from the rescue mission.  
and I'm not sure how expensive it would be to treat his arm.

"You can pay for the old man's treatment?"

"Yup. All you gotta do is agree to work with us."

I take a deep breath and shake his hand.

"I'll do it. Sign me up."

The hairy man before me smiles.

"Welcome aboard."


End file.
